School for Sex is a sex comedy film from the late 1960s about a man whose fortune has been whittled away by a series of inadvisable marriages and costly divorces to mercenary women out to fleece him. Poorer but wiser he subsequently considers himself to be an expert on all the ways women can swindle unsuspecting men of their money. He decides to cash in by setting up a school to pass on his knowledge to young women teaching them all the tricks they can use to profit from men's weaknesses. In return for his free tutelage his pupils will pay him a third of everything they make once they graduate.
Like many films of that era some scenes had two versions filmed for different international markets. The UK version did have some nudity in it from minor characters but had none from the main four students who remained clothed throughout. Indications that an alternative stronger version was made for an overseas market has been limited to publicity photos from contemporary film magazines in which the four main students are seen fully naked. Unfortunately however the overseas version has never been commercially released and up to now all that has ever been available has been the tamer UK version.
But now School For Sex has had a mainstream UK release on the Best of British label. The main feature is the UK version once again, but the DVD extras include the alternative scenes from the overseas version.
Five such scenes are included in a section titled "X-Rated Scenes".
The running length of each clip in bracket (mm:ss)
New Found Fortune (1:17)
Oddly enough the first alternative scene is tamer than in the UK version.
Newly rich Wingate's maid Polly (Maria Frost) brings in his breakfast tray and gets into bed with him letting him take off her uniform. In the UK version she is seen topless (with a slight bit of full frontal nudity), however in the overseas version she keeps her underwear on and has no nudity. The UK version nudity tallies with previous versions seen so is not a mistake on this DVD. Perhaps a mix-up occurred when the two versions were originally prepared.
Swedish Massage (0:22)
Ingeberg (Jacky Berdet) gives Wingate a very vigorous massage.
In the UK version she wears underwear, whereas in the overseas version she is topless.
Girls in a Van (2:49)
Four lawbreaking girls (Amber Dean Smith, Françoise Pascal, Cathy Howard and Sylvia Barlow) are being transported in a camper van to a correctional institution by a probation officer. They form a plan to escape by accusing the officer of trying it on with them:- they undress and leap from the van when a policeman is passing and loudly complain about how they have been mistreated by the probation office who they say made them undress. But they are not believed and their ploy fails.
In the UK version they wear underwear (or swimwear as they call it in the dialogue) whereas in the overseas version they take everything off.
Girls Arrive (4:00)
Following on shortly after the previous scene. Here the four girls arrive at the school, getting out of the van and waiting to be taken in. Cathy Howard heads off alone to make out with her boyfriend, whilst the other three girls go inside the mansion and are introduced to school principal Wingate.
In the UK version the girls are still wearing their underwear, whereas in the overseas version they are still naked. For Cathy Howard's scene with her boyfriend she is naked lying on the lawn with him in both versions, but in the UK version she keeps her arms covering her breasts whereas she doesn't cover herself in the overseas version.
One oddity in the overseas version is that when the three girls are being introduced to Wingate the camera pans from feet to face in close-up for each in both versions showing Francoise Pascal and Sylvia Barlow fully nude in the overseas version - whereas for Amber Dean Smith's turn she is suddenly wearing underwear for the close-up moment, although not in the wide shots. Despite this it is a different take from the UK version because her hair is arranged differently.
An Education (3:52)
This part has two consecutive scenes
Amber Dean Smith: She takes off her clothes in the lounge while rehearsing a test situation of seducing a rich old man.
In the UK version she keeps on her bra and pants; in the overseas version she takes everything off.
Sylvia Barlow: She is being taught by Wingate how to give a man an irresistible massage.
In the UK version she is wearing a negligee; in the overseas version she has nothing on.
One expected difference not included is where Françoise Pascal is being taught seduction techniques on a bed; in the UK version she has her bra on although in contemporary magazine publicity photos she is shown topless in this scene. It is unclear if this scene was overlooked for the DVD extras or if there was no difference between the two versions.
If there were any other differences between the two versions those scenes were not included on the DVD.
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